Deadpool Movie Review

Fuck formulaic superhero movies: Deadpool, the R-rated riot of a film, gives a big middle finger to the manufactured, cookie cutter superhero movies of late--only fitting for the “mercenary with a mouth,” the irreverent, sarcastic, merciless, inappropriate, masturbation-loving anti-hero who can apparently only be played by Ryan Reynolds.

Reynolds, the charismatic, good-looking, Blake Lively-nailing dude who has always seemingly underthrown his potential as a leading man, has been here before. From Marvel’s Blade: Trinity to the epic flop Green Lantern, Reynolds has experience in the comic book arena. Of course, he also played Deadpool in the ill-fated and fucking awful X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a movie so bad they scrapped the X-Men Origins label after that single film. Fans of the character thought Reynolds was right for the part, even if the movie massacred the character (it’s hard to be the mercenary with a mouth when your mouth is surgically sealed shut).

But enough with nostalgic waxing. This new Deadpool is the irreverent, sarcastic, inappropriate and violent movie fans have presumably been asking for. First-time director Tim Miller does everything in his power to make the movie as obnoxious as possible including having Reynolds breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience (a unique attribute of the Marvel comic, apparently), and yet there’s nothing about Deadpool that is obnoxious.

It’s funny, it’s fun and it’s a blast.

Deadpool won’t be remembered for its action scenes--while it has a few legitimate action sequences, none are especially particularly noteworthy--but the picture makes good use of the characters (including Colossus, last seen in the X-Men movies) and its R rating. Heads will be decapitated, limbs will be severed.

But Deadpool feels refreshingly different than other recent comic book movies, and for that it should be commended. Its off-kilter humor, simplistic storyline and general tendency to say “fuck it” to being anything other than what it wants to be won’t appeal to everyone--surely, some people will hate it--but Deadpool defies convention and certainly my own personal expectations--I thought it would be awful--to be one of the more entertaining comic book movies of the last couple years.